This is the response I just received from Mr. Levin regarding my email to him about gun rights.

Quote:

Dear Mr. Nieporte:

Thank you for contacting me about gun safety issues. I appreciate you sharing your views with me.

I support sensible gun safety laws and strict enforcement of those laws to help prevent crimes, suicides and violence committed with firearms. I support the steps President Obama outlined recently to curb the gun violence that plagues our nation, and I believe Congress can and should work to enact legislation to prevent gun violence without infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens.

I was an original cosponsor of the Brady Law (P.L.103-159). This law requires prospective handgun purchasers to undergo criminal background checks before purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer. The background check system is able to make 92 percent of background check determinations on the spot, and since 1994, has prevented more than 1.5 million firearm purchases. Additionally, according to Centers for Disease Control statistics, since the Brady Law went into effect, the number of gun deaths in the United States dropped 22 percent, from 39,595 in 1993 to 30,769 in 2007. The number of gun homicides dropped by more than 29 percent, from 17,024 in 1993 to 12,129 in 2007.

While the Brady Law has been successful in reducing gun violence, I believe more has to be done. For example, only 60 percent of all gun sales in the United States take place at licensed federal dealers, where background checks are mandatory. The remaining 40 percent of gun sales are conducted by unlicensed individual sellers, often at gun shows, and a background check is not required. This means that across our nation, any dangerous individual can go to a gun show and purchase a deadly weapon without any form of background check. To close this ‘gun show loophole,’ I am a cosponsor of the Gun Show Background Check Act. This bill would enact the common sense principle that anyone who wants to purchase a firearm at a gun show should be able to pass a simple background check. Ten national police organizations support closing this loophole.

Additionally, I am a cosponsor of the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act, a bill that seeks to reduce gun violence by keeping firearms out of the hands of terrorists and criminals. Although hard to believe, nothing in current law prohibits individuals on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms, unless they fall into another disqualifying category. This “terror gap” in federal law must be closed, and this bill would do just that. This legislation would deny the transfer of a firearm when a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check reveals that the prospective purchaser is a known or suspected terrorist and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the purchaser may use the firearm in connection with terrorism. Keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists is just common sense.

I also have always supported the rights of sportsmen and hunters. Hunting is a way of life for millions of Americans and plays an integral role in modern wildlife management. But military style assault weapons have no sporting purpose. Because of these weapons, our nation’s citizens are in greater danger and police officers across the country are encountering criminals armed with highly lethal military style weapons.

To support our law enforcement community and to save lives, I am a cosponsor of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. This legislation would prevent the future possession, manufacture, sale and importation of assault-type weapons while grandfathering weapons lawfully possessed at the date of the bill’s enactment. It would ban firearms with detachable magazines and military style features, such as grenade launchers, protruding pistol grips, and barrel shrouds. It would support law enforcement officers across our nation, who should not be forced to confront lawbreakers toting military arms. And it would protect the rights of hunters by specifically naming thousands of firearms with legitimate sporting, sentimental or other value that would remain legal to possess.

This bill also would ban high capacity ammunition magazines. Studies have shown that high capacity ammunition magazines are used in 31 to 41 percent of fatal police shootings in cities across our nation. They also have been used by the perpetrators of numerous mass shootings, including at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, the Tucson shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others, the attack on a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and the horrifying shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The Newtown shooting alone left twenty six people dead, twenty of them children.

We must not wait until more places are added to this heartbreaking list. We can and should act swiftly to protect our families and loved ones from mass shootings. These measures have the overwhelming support of law enforcement communities around our nation, who have implored us to make changes to stop the flood of these types of weapons into the hands of those who would use them for harm. I will continue to work for common-sense gun safety measures.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Carl Levin
levin.senate.gov

I really can't wait until my wife finishes her Master's degree this summer and we move on to our new home in Texas.

__________________
Half the country hates my business, the other half my hobby.

I got a response from Senator Stabenow, also from Michigan, that she will not support further gun control at this time. We'll see.

Apparently she is lying to one of us. A politician lying. Go figure.

Quote:

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for contacting me about the tragic and senseless violence in Newtown, Connecticut. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and concerns with me.

If there is anything that deeply unites Americans across the country it is our love for our children and grandchildren and our desire to keep them safe. In the wake of the heartbreaking tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary, all of us must come together to determine what steps can be taken to protect our children. That means discussing how we can strengthen our gun laws to help stop attacks like this from happening again, while protecting responsible gun ownership and preserving our hunting heritage. It also means strengthening mental health services, and focusing on the broader culture of violence in the media and our society. These solutions may not be easy, but one thing should be clear – complacency and inaction until the next attack must not be an option.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to keep me informed about issues of concern to you and your family.
Sincerely,

Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator

She says "strengthen our gun laws". I don't see anywhere in mine where she will not support further gun control. In fact it seems the exact opposite. Oh and I didn't mention Newtown at all in my letter to her. I mentioned the political climate and how she should uphold her oath to protect the constitution namely 2A.

__________________
Half the country hates my business, the other half my hobby.

It's that "fact" that really puts a burr under my saddle. How can 3 Gun not be a "sport?" And the man could go to a store and buy a general gun magazine. Just to flip through and see what is out there. And he would find articles in _any_ of them about people using AR's for coyote hunting. Or deer hunting. (Especially in 6.5, 6.8, etc.) About the competitors at Camp Perry using them for their precision events at long range. About people using the .22 versions at Appleseed events. Etc, etc.

If they threw in a "IMO" every now and then, I could at least respect the fact that this is their opinion. But when they try to present something as a stone cold fact when they are dead wrong... it frustrates the heck out of me!

You won't find many politicians that say what the Second Amendment Right is really about. All we hear is hunting this and hunting that. Responsible gun ownership this and that. When will we see a politician say the Second Amendment is to protect the American people from Washington and State governments?

For the record I am not saying that there are none out there that have said such but just wanted to point out how rare it is.

__________________
I told the new me,
"Meet me at the bus station and hold a sign that reads: 'Today is the first day of the rest of your life.'"
But the old me met me with a sign that read: "Welcome back."
Who you are is not a function of where you are. -Off Minor

Except for the fact that that is not the feeling of his contituents, you know, the people who elected him. Michigan has a big problem in that with our heavy industry we are very blue collar, but they don't understand that blue collar guys like to shoot guns. So, they get elected because the political party works in their favor, however, the party is clearly anti gun. It's a catch 22 and unfortunately the population hasn't figured this out yet.

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